University of Cincinnati right-handed pitcher Christian McElroy (Middletown, Ohio/Monroe/Sinclair CC) became the third UC draftee in 2012 when the Cincinnati Reds selected him with the 982nd overall pick in the 32nd round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

McElroy becomes the second right-hander from UC drafted by the hometown Reds in as many years after Dan Jensen was taken by the Reds in the 20th round of the 2011 MLB Draft.

McElroy, a 6-foot-4 redshirt sophomore, pitched in 13 ballgames with nine starts for the Bearcats in 2012, posting a 4.41 ERA with four wins and 46 strikeouts in 63 1-3 innings pitched. McElroy finished the season ranked sixth in the Big East Conference in fewest hits allowed (59) and 12th in opponent batting average (.252).

McElroy was named to Big East Honor Roll for his performance at Notre Dame on April 15, when he tied his career-high of seven innings pitched and allowed just one unearned run on three hits with four strikeouts. In his second-to-last start of the season May 13 at Villanova, McElroy recorded a career-best eight strikeouts while allowing just one earned run in 6 2-3 innings.

After right-hander Zach Isler (Union, Ky./Covington Catholic) was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the eighth round and outfielder Jake Proctor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) was chosen in the 14th round by the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, McElroy’s selection gives UC a trio of draftees in the same year for the first time since 2009 and the fifth time in program history (1977, 1988, 2001). The 2008 draft class saw a school-record four Bearcats selected.

Since Head Coach Brian Cleary’s first season at Cincinnati in 1997, a Bearcat has been drafted 22 times during his 16-year tenure.